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View Poll Results: Should the Pacers sit Danny for the rest of the year?

Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

With all due respect to Frank Vogelís relentless optimism, the latest news on Danny Granger cannot be viewed as anything other than a major setback for both the individual and the team.

This is happening at the worst possible time for a Pacers team that desperately needs to be fine-tuning for the playoffs, not putting the rotation up on the rack waiting for a part to arrive.

After playing regular minutes in three games, and then only in the first half of two, Grangerís left knee did not respond well. He reported what Vogel referred to as ďabove-averageĒ soreness, underwent an MRI on Monday and missed practice Tuesday.

Wednesday, the Pacers sent out an advisory that said in part ďno new damageĒ was found but that Granger would go back on the shelf and be re-evaluated in a week.

The two operative phrases there were ďnew damage,Ē which suggests the old damage is causing this issue, and ďre-evaluated,Ē which doesnít mean heíll be playing again next week. It means theyíll see if he can play in a week. Given he was down more than four months before coming back, you have to wonder how much improvement can be expected in a week.

ďWeíre not looking at it like (it is a setback),Ē Vogel said. ďWeíre looking at it as being precautionary, understanding itís still a long season, thereís still a lot of time left. We want him to get back to 100 percent and this is the best way to do it. Weíre looking at it like itís hopefully going to be a short-term thing.Ē

It is a long season, but there isnít that much time left. The Pacers have 21 games remaining. By the time Granger is re-evaluated, the number will be down to 18. At that point, there will be just one month left in the regular season Ė a critical month for a team in a tightly packed Eastern Conference playoff race.

A couple of bad weeks could cost them the Central Division, homecourt advantage and any real chance of a deep playoff run. Nine of the next 14 are on the road, so the potential for a couple of bad weeks is real.

The thing is, what options do the Pacers have?

They could shut down The Granger Experiment, and that may be a stronger possibility in a week if he is unable to play. For now, however, the potential of what he could mean to the team in the postseason is too great to abandon before it is absolutely, positively necessary.

No, for the time being they must make the best of it, see if Sam Young, Orlando Johnson or even Gerald Green can bring something, anything off the bench. Even without Granger, the starting lineup is just fine. Itís the second unit that would benefit most from his return.

In the last six games, the bench has been outscored by 84 points, an average of 14 per game. The reserves combined to shoot 34.2 percent overall, 20 percent from the 3-point line. And Granger played in five of those games. The deficit in the 83-81 loss to Boston Wednesday was 29-16, keeping in mind the Celtics have been so decimated by injuries they signed three guys out of the Chinese league just to fill out their roster.

ďObviously, we all wanted him to come back and within a week be playing 38 minutes and being pain-free,Ē Vogel said. ďThat was the best-case scenario. This isnít anywhere near the worst-case scenario. Itís just part of the process, not as smoothly as we would have hoped but we still feel very confident heís going to give us a big lift down the stretch.Ē

Because that is still a possibility, it is not yet time to pull the plug on Granger. But the Pacers can ill afford to let uncertainty linger much longer.

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Re: Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

Not yet. I posted yesterday that there is no harm what-so-ever in waiting 3 weeks or so. So my position is if we are at the same place as we are now on April 1st, then yes pull the plug and direct his re-hab to next season.

Re: Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

The only thing it's time to pull the plug on is the idea of Danny being a starter. If he has a chance of being ready in April, hell yes see if he still can play off the bench. Nothing to lose there.

Exactly. If we can get Danny off the bench for 10 minutes a game in the ECF and that's it, I still want that.

Who's roster spot would he be taking? Gerald Green? Come on.

This "all or nothing" approach has been tiring. It seems as though many feel that you either get Danny back as a starter at full strength RIGHT NOW, or you give up on him contributing this season at all.

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Re: Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

well apparently granger doesnt seem to get any healthier this year even in the limited minutes that he has played so far, so yeah, i say shelf him for the rest of the season, maybe until the last week of the season and see if he can give it a go for 10 min or so, if not, theres always next year, if his knees can hold up then

Re: Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

Our bench offense is such a concern. So like a couple others have said, a Danny Granger off the bench will be welcomed.

I disagree with UncleBuck, though, in saying that there's no urgency in getting him back. He looks slow and out of shape to me. Maybe a bit heavier too. I think he needs more than just 10 or so games of 15-20 minutes if we want him to be sharper come playoff time.

Re: Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

I have no idea when Frank should pull the plug on the Granger come back. However, it is way past time for a play maker to run the offense on the second unit. DJ is about as poor a point guard as I can remember watching. Won't pass the ball, dribbles around in circles, comes off screens to drive into the paint and lose the ball and can defend NO ONE! IMO, it's time for Lance to take the backup PG minutes. Or give them to Ben and have some one bring the ball up court for him. We should either run the same plays for both units or devise some for the 2nd unit. They seem to just run around and hope for a miracle. Maybe Hill can just play 48 mpg?

Re: Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

Our bench offense is such a concern. So like a couple others have said, a Danny Granger off the bench will be welcomed.

I disagree with UncleBuck, though, in saying that there's no urgency in getting him back. He looks slow and out of shape to me. Maybe a bit heavier too. I think he needs more than just 10 or so games of 15-20 minutes if we want him to be sharper come playoff time.

I'm with Unclebuck on this one.

There's 8 games in April, that should be plenty of time for him to get into game shape considering he was already starting to look good before sitting out. If he's not ready to play by April, sit him out and focus on getting him ready for next season.

Re: Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

I need to think about this.... If Danny is put on the shelf is there ANY type of move the Pacers could make bringing someone in as a potential bandaid? Obviously the trade deadline was missed.

I don't have a lot of faith in Granger's conditioning, defense, and shot making ability on a bum knee and 10 minute max participation time. If there's any kind of legitimate alternative we'd be overlooking to roll the dice on his possible (but unguaranteed) return we should consider it.

Danny Granger hasn't been "Danny Granger" for a few years now. I find it hard to believe we should expect him to return to form with knee problems and a severely limited role. It would just be a distraction and chemistry killer. In fact, I think his limited return has already thrown things slightly askew.

Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

------

"A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, thatís teamwork."

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Re: Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

This is just a bunch of bs. It's not like the Pacers aren't prepared for any and all contingencies. They know exactly what to do if Granger is not available. And they know exactly what they'll do if he is available but not yet ready to start.

They don't have to pull the plug on anything, because there is absolutely nothing that can happen that they haven't planned for.

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Re: Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

It doesn't matter when he returns if he's healthy enough to contribute. If he came back in the final week of the season at full strength it would be insane to turn that down for the playoffs. I'd rather see him now but the team can fully adjust to Granger with 3 weeks to go.

Re: Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

I gotta say I don't remotely understand the question. "Should the Pacers sit Danny" or "Is it time to pull the plug" both imply that there's some issue of how the Pacers should choose to go about things.

But that's, frankly, idiotic. It has nothing to do with the Pacers choosing anything and everything to do with Granger's health and ability to play basketball. Right now, he is obviously not healthy enough to do that. So it'd be idiotic to send an injured player out to play. Likewise, if he suddenly gets healthy enough to play, I think it'd be pretty idiotic for the Pacers to not try and use a very talented and suddenly healthy basketball player.

My belief is Danny will sit for the rest of the year, or possibly have one more failed attempt to play, but the only issue here is Danny's health. If he can get to where he can play at a high level and not further injure himself, then it's a complete no-brainer that he should play.

Re: Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

There's no reason to pull the plug yet unless the medical professionals tell us to do so. That being said, time is rapidly running out on the season, and so far he hasn't come remotely close to showing that he can contribute solid minutes night in and night out. It puzzles me that some people are acting like the "above average soreness" and missing a week is "normal". If someone would have said a week ago after the Clipps game that Danny would barely be able to play the next two games and then miss a week, they would have been accused of being a big negative Nancy. This setback is certainly not what the Pacers were hoping for when he came back.

It's March 7 and he hasn't shown that he can play solid minutes yet, so I have a hard time believing that he will be a big contributor in the playoffs, which commence in a mere month and a half. The playoffs will consist of chasing around elite competition night in and night out. It will be physically exhausting, even for young healthy guys like PG and Lance. I just don't think its likely that Danny will be ready for that. I want nothing else than to be wrong about that, but I'm very very concerned.

Re: Is it time to pull the plug on Grangerís comeback? Conrad Brunner

Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
And life itself, rushing over me
Life itself, the wind in black elms,
Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you